Beckett, Ramirez power Boston past Kansas City

BASEBALL The Red Sox won their second game in a row at Fenway Park on Wednesday. The last time this happened was in 1916

AP , BOSTON

Boston Red Sox starting pitcher Josh Beckett points and shouts ``Up!'' during a pop-up by Kansas City Royals David DeJesus in the first inning of their baseball game at Fenway Park in Boston on Wednesday. The Red Sox won 1-0.

PHOTO: AP

American LeagueJosh Beckett held the punchless Kansas City Royals to four hits over eight innings and Manny Ramirez homered in leading the Boston Red Sox to a second consecutive 1-0 victory on Wednesday.

The last time the Red Sox won two straight 1-0 games at Fenway Park was 1916, when the ballpark was only four years old and Boston was on its way to its second World Series title in a row. Babe Ruth beat the New York Yankees on June 22 and Ernie Shore edged the Philadelphia Athletics the next day, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.

A day after two Red Sox rookies combined to one-hit the Royals, Beckett (12-5) struck out seven and walked none to join Toronto's Roy Halladay as the American League's only 12-game winners.

After the game, the Red Sox announced Beckett agreed to a US$30 million, three-year contract extension with a club option for 2010 that could bring the total value of the deal to US$40 million.

Jonathan Papelbon got three outs for his 29th save.

Mark Redman (6-5) struck out nine in eight innings, but his six-game winning streak came to an end. He threw his first complete game since May last year.

Mariners 3, Yankees 2

At New York, Ichiro Suzuki touched off Seattle's go-ahead rally in the eighth inning with his third hit of the game and the Mariners snapped a four-game losing streak, defeating New York.

The loss ended a five-game winning streak for the Yankees.

J.J. Putz got three outs for his 18th save in 21 tries. He blew a ninth-inning chance in the Mariners' previous game -- a 5-4 loss in 11 innings to the Yankees that, because of a long rain delay, ended around 12:40am on Wednesday.

Richie Sexson homered for Seattle off Randy Johnson (10-8), who struck out a season-high 11.

Aaron Boone also homered and Jhonny Peralta hit a go-ahead single for Cleveland, which stopped a five-game losing streak. Paul Byrd (7-6) ended the Angels' longest winning streak of the season in his first start against his former team since signing a two-year, US$14 million contract with the Indians in December.

Milton Bradley and Eric Chavez also connected for the Athletics, who took two of three from the Orioles. Milton Bradley went 3-for-4 and is 9-for-19 in five games since returning from the disabled list.

Tigers 5, White Sox 2

At Detroit, Craig Monroe hit Detroit's first grand slam of the season and Jeremy Bonderman allowed two runs over 7 1-3 innings to lead the Tigers to the win.

Detroit beat defending World Series champion Chicago for just the second time in eight games.

Rangers 5, Blue Jays 4

At Toronto, Kevin Millwood earned his 10th win and Gary Matthews Jr hit a go-ahead double in a four-run seventh inning to help Texas beat Toronto on a troubling night for the Blue Jays.

Designated hitter Shea Hillenbrand refused to sit in the dugout with his Toronto teammates after he was chastised during a team meeting. Hours before, Hillenbrand criticized the organization and said he expects to be traded. The Blue Jays designated him for assignment and he was not in the clubhouse after the game.